Israeli Med Tech: Freeze Thy Cancer Lump?

(Image Credit: Israel 21^st Century)

When it comes to the removal of a cancerous lump, many patients (rightly) envision being laid out on a table and being cut open like chopped liver.

While using surgery to remove cancer can be somewhat successful, it is often expensive and time consuming for both the doctor and the patient. Now it looks as if some Israeli medical technology may not only make removing these lumps easier, but cheaper as well.

(Israel 21^st Century) IceSense provides that solution by offering the hope of efficient treatment in local clinics without the need for hospitalization, recuperation, or scarring. The IceSense mechanism enables the local application of super-cold temperatures and a fine control of the temperature itself. Liquid nitrogen is pumped to the end of a thin needle probe cooling the tip to the extreme cold required for cryotherapy. Utilizing ultrasound, surgeons can then guide the needle to the exact location of the lump and then freeze the unwanted tissue inside the body.

About the same size as a washing machine, the IceSense apparatus can be operated even in local clinics and medical centers. Providing treatment for breast lumps in local medical centers would be a big step towards the current trend in the US to conduct as much surgery as possible in local clinics by using non-invasive methods. This keeps expensive and over-worked operating rooms and teams free for more serious surgical procedures that require a hospital environment.

According to the article, IceSense would cost less than $1,000 which would not only make it affordable for patients, but many health insurance plans as well.

While this technology has been around for over three decades, IceSense it seems makes this technology not only affordable for the masses, but portable to various clinics as well.

Hopefully this device will make it easier for patients with lumps, especially women suffering with breast cancer to seek out treatment, as IceSense would probably leave less scars (if any) compared to a full blown out operation.

Video: World's Largest Israeli Flag?

A business woman from the Philippines has made Guinness history by creating the largest Israeli flag to date.

When reporters asked what her inspiration was, her answers boiled down to two reasons--love of Israel and love of Hashem.

(Israel Times) The flag, compared to the size of 2 football fields, is 100-meters long, 200-meters wide and weights 5,200 kilos. 6 tailors, 2 designers and 40 volunteers in Philippines worked on it for 3 weeks.

This is a very significant present from Grace Gupana, Philippines business woman and nun, who has been working on the advancement of tourism between the two countries. It also represents 50 years of friendship between Israel and the Philippines.

Despite being located thousands of miles away from Israel, the Filipino's (aka citizens of the Philipines) seem to have a very strong relationship with the Jewish state, which goes back more than a half a century.

Note: For those interested in checking out some interesting images of the event, can check out My Share of Sun in Israel over here.

Israel's eToro: A New Way To Play Forex?

While a few geniuses often enjoy using complex software to understand even more complex scenarios, most of the population enjoys keeping it simple--especially when it deals with money.

One Israeli company called eToro has decided to help novices understand how the Foreign Exchange (or Forex) works by presenting a visual presentation that anyone can understand.

(TechCrunch) Israeli eToro is taking a novel approach in simplifying Foreign Exchange (Forex) trading by packaging the complicated concepts involved in trading one currency against another, in fun non-threatening wrappers. [...]

I spoke to eToro's CEO, Johnathan Assia, who explained that the real challenge for eToro is finding ways to present Forex data in a simplified and user-friendly manner that makes it accessible to ordinary users. To appreciate the challenge, take a look at the screenshot on the right depicting a typical Forex trading app interface. Now take a look at the screenshots below of eToro's offering. Talk about a picture being worth a 1000 US Dollars Vs. the Japanese Yen...

While users should ALWAYS be careful while investing any amount of money through a program (as it is easier to lose money than to gain it), eToro's approach will hopefully help people grasp "the big picture" of what is happening in the market place.

Hopefully this will help novices become experts at handling their own money on Forex, although it probably would not hurt to seek out advice from experts in the field.

Disclaimer: Users should always seek out professional advice before investing any amount of money in any company/currency, regardless of past history. Don't be a sucker--do your own research!!!

Instead Of Email, Why Not Video-Audio Mail?

While sending a text message may be fun, sending a video message may be even better!

It looks as if a new Israeli company called Voice Me has launched a service that allows users to send audio and video messages to their friends for free.

(Globes Online) Israeli developer of IP voice and video messaging Voice-Me Ltd. is launching a new product. The company's beta website offers an alternative to e-mail. The site enables surfers to send voice and video messages to an e-mail address at no cost and with no need to download software.

While other sites such as YouTube and Odeo allow users to record video and audio respectively, as well as email messages to their friends, neither provide a simple way of doing both.

Voice Me may become a useful site, especially around the holidays, as it may be easier to express ones feeling on video than through text and images.

Jerusalem Lions To Enter Israeli Baseball!

(Image Credit: Israel Baseball League)

After nearly 4,000 years of waiting, it looks as if the spiritual capital of Israel will finally have its own Baseball team. The Petach Tikva Pioneers have recently decided to migrate to Jerusalem, and will be renamed the Jerusalem Lions.

But the question remains, can they defeat the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox?

(Israel Baseball League) This is about to change for the 2008 season, as the IBL announced that it is moving the Petach Tikva franchise to Jerusalem for the coming year. The team, to be known as the Jerusalem Lions, will play its maiden season in Gezer Field, about a 25 minute drive from the center of Jerusalem. By the 2010 season, the league expects the team to have a home field in Jerusalem itself. [...]

"Our problem was finding a site in Jerusalem that could accommodate pro baseball requirements," said Ami Baran, the IBL's Director of Israeli Operations. "However, we have been working under the leadership of the Jerusalem Foundation in getting a particular parcel designated as a baseball field and it is clear that enough progress has been made on that score for us to start planning for baseball in Jerusalem," Baran continued.

The move towards Jerusalem should help improve the teams fan base, as well as raise the status of the league overall internationally.

The Israel Baseball League has recently released a schedule for 2008, which includes 40 games to be played throughout the season, giving each team plenty of time to spar against each other in the hot summer.

Note: With Jerusalem now formally having a team, I wonder whether or not the Haredi (or Orthodox Jews) will consider joining the fun? (especially if it means beating the Tel Aviv Lightening)

Video: Jerry Seinfeld Promotes Bee Movie To Peres

(Hat Tip: Isrealli.org)

Jerry Seinfeld's arrival into Israel has received a lot of buzz (note: pun not intended) regarding his Bee Movie, which has been doing fairly well in the US.

During his visit Seinfeld was able to meet privately with Peres, and exchange some jokes as well as some information of what Israel was all about.

(Jerusalem Post) On Friday, Seinfeld toured Yad Vashem, Jerusalem's Old City and Masada. He also met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres. He told Peres that he was very excited by the warm welcome that he had received in Israel, and amazed by how popular his sitcom Seinfeld is in this country.

"You can imagine how much people like you here and respect you," Peres told Seinfeld as the two sat in suits and ties in front of Israeli flags at Beit Hanassi.

Seinfeld explained his movie to the 84-year-old Nobel peace laureate. "It's about a bee who's not sure that he wants to go into honey," Seinfeld said, as Peres laughed. "They tell him he has no choice."

According to the article, Jerry seemed to be surprised by how popular his show Seinfeld was in Israel. Whether its due to the fact that Israeli's love to see a Jewish star blossom, or that the show revolves around nothing, Seinfeld has become a phenomenon world wide, and hopefully we will see more of Jerry in Israel--along with his Jewish wife.

AOL's MapQuest Parterns With Israel's Telmap

After previously buying out two Israeli companies, AOL is partnering up with another Israeli company in order to help out MapQuest, a company fully owned by the American giant.

(Israel Times) New MapQuest Navigator 5.0 includes Telmap’s mobile optimized navigation data, which permits users to be re-routed in the event of a missed turn without the need to contact the mapping server. The application is wireless, voice-guided and GPS-enabled. [...]

"We believe that making more local content available for the consumer through mobile navigation will increase the use of these services in day-to-day life activities," commented David Singer, Vice President and General Manager of Telmap.

Telemap's partnership with MapQuest should help give AOL some much needed leverage against its biggest rivals (i.e. Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft).

Although AOL has not hinted at the possibility of purchasing any more Israeli companies in the future, I would not be surprised if they decided to scout out a few more Israeli startups in order to help it survive in its ongoing cyber war with Google (and Microsoft).

Can Israel's Fixya.com Save You Money At The Repair Shop?

While it can not find the solution towards world peace, intergalactic travel or global warming, Fixya.com may be able to help you solve why your mp3 player, camera, TV stopped working, saving you money at the repair shop.

(Israel Times) Fixya's motto is "Tech Support for the People by the People". Participative websites become the norm, and their success is growing. [...]

Fixya.com (formerly 2Techie.com) was founded by 2 entrepreneurs who decided to take advantage of the fact that consumer products manufacturers are not providing adequate support through their web sites.

With technical manuals competing for the least user friendly award, geeks and non-geeks alike may find Fixya to be a breathe of fresh air.

The site boasts over 700,000 products in its online catalogue and was previously featured on Inside Adsense, an official Google blog.

Video: Israeli Cool Facts (Part Two)

(Hat Tip: One Jerusalem)

It looks as if another video has surface highlighting some of the accomplishments of the Jewish nation.

The music is different from a previous video, although it may be familiar to those of you who speak Hebrew.

Question: Does anybody know the group responsible for singing this?

Ryan Braun: Baseballs First Jewish Rookie Of The Year

(Image: Ryan Braun, Credit: JS Online)

It looks as if Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers has just made history by becoming the first Jewish player to become Rookie of the Year.

(Jerusalem Post) Ryan Braun became baseball's first Jewish Rookie of the Year.

Braun, the slugging third baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers, picked up the award Monday in the National League. In the voting by the Baseball Writers of America, Braun edged Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, 128-126.

Although Braun was never raised Jewish by his Israeli dad, he seems to take an immense pride in his Jewish heritage.

Note: While Braun will probably decide to remain in the US because of his career, hopefully he will consider signing up with the Israel Baseball League (if he has time during the off season).

Isaeli Minds Help Intel Create A "Greener" Computer Chip

(Image Credit: Israel 21^st Century)

It looks as if Intel Israel may have played a unique role in helping their company develop one of the most environmentally friendly computer chips in the industry.

(Israel 21^st Century) On Saturday global computer company Intel unveiled its latest addition to its processor family: a new chipset provisionally named 'Penryn.' The innovative hafnium-based "Hi-k" processor, which reduces electricity loss, or "capacitance," through the use of third-generation silicon materials, also does away with the need to incorporate eco-unfriendly lead and halogen materials in the production process. [...]

The latest Penryn innovation drew upon expertise and experience garnered during the Israeli development of the Centrino processor, Bahar told ISRAEL21c. Such expertise has ensured that "Moore's Law", a high tech axiom which predicts that transistor counts double about every two years, thrives well into the next decade.

Not only does the new chip more environmentally friendly than the general competition, but it also reduces the amount of energy lost (through heat) which should help consumers save a little on their energy bills.

Note: According to the article, Intel is pursuing plans to construct a chipset production facility near the city of Kiryat Gat, which should help boost Israel's economy by providing more jobs.

Enlightened: Why Turks And Jews Love Each Other

President Shimon Peres (of Israel) recently paid a visit to Turkey in order to honor Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern day Turkey.

While Atakturk may be unfamiliar to those in the US, his role in Jewish history help cement ties between the Jewish state long before the nation of Israel was reborn.

(IsraCast.com) Ties between Turkey and the Jewish people go back a long way. Some five-hundred years ago, the Ottoman Empire gave shelter to tens of thousands of Spanish Jews who fled from the Inquisition. They settled in Turkey and many European countries which were under Ottoman rule.

More recently, during the rise of the Nazis in the 1930's, Turkish president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk allowed many German Jewish refugees to enter Turkey, despite Ankara's alliance with Nazi Germany. During the Nazi era most of the Jewish communities in Turkish controlled countries of Europe survived the Holocaust. Many of these Jews went on to make their homes in the ancient Jewish homeland of Israel. In fact, Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and the country's second State President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi studied law at the University of Istanbull.

This probably explains why both Israel and Turkey enjoy very close relations with each other, not to mention the fact that Turkey is a primary vacation spot for many Israelis.